Safety locking apparatus for elevators



Oct. 20, 1925. 1,557,857

H. v. MCCORMICK SAFETY LOCKING APPARATUS FOR ELEVATORS Filed Jan. 1925 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Z -7 7 7 K /y H 6 i 55-% ,13 z

Z 2* i Q E z, 113;; I 5, 4/15 Q E ,7 1 i a 2-1".

gmmntop "22 HA ROLD V Mc Comm,

Oct. 20, 92 1,557,857

H. V. M CORMICK 4 SAFETY LOCKING APPARATUS FOR ELEVATORS Filed Jan. 5,1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct- 20, 1925. I 1,557,857

H. V. MCORMICK SAFETY LOCKING APPARATUS FOR ELEVATORS Filed Jan. 5, 19254 Sheets-Sheet 5 3mm Ila ROLD V Mc Conn/bx H. V. M CORMICK SAFETYLQCKING APPARATUS FOR ELEVATORS Filed Jan. 5, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Patented Oct. 20, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

HAROLD V. MCCORMICK, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGN OR TO THE WARNERELEVATOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OFOHIO.

SAFETY LOCKING APPARATUS FOR ELEVATORS.

Application filed January 3, 1925. Serial No. 431.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HAROLD V. MCCOR- anoi a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton andState of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in a SafetyLocking Apparatus for Elevators, of which the following is aspecification.

An object of my invention is to provide electromechanical safety lockingapparatus for automatic elevators.

Another object is to provide apparatus of this kind which will renderimpossible the operation of an elevator car unless all hatch way doorsare properly closed and latched.

Another object of my invention is to provide. means of this type whichare noiseless in operation.

Another object is to provide means for the purpose stated which willpermit the opening of a given hatch way door only when the elevator carhas assumed a position of rest before such door.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein anddisclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of an elevator shaft, car and riggingshown partially in cross section, and showing the device of my inventionmounted thereon. I

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmental detail view of the mechanism shown inFig. 2.

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of the parts shown in Fig. 3, partsbeing broken away.

Fig. 5 is a view taken on line 55 of Fig.

Fig. 6 is a view taken on line 66 of Fig. 5. 3 4 p 7 is a simplifiedwiring diagram showing tho electric circuits employed in an elevatorsystem having parts'of my invention embodied therein.

The apparatus of my invention comprises cooperating means carried by theside wall of an elevator shaft and a hatch way door, for positivelylocking the door in a closed position, and conditioning means carried bythe elevator car adapted to release the locking means only after the carhas assumed a position of rest in its proper place before the -"h waydoor. The door locking Latte-V meansalso carry contacts which controlthe circuits for actuating the controlling means for the hoistingmotors.

As indicated in the drawings, an elevator shaft 10 having the usual sideWalls 11 and hatch ways 12, is provided with hatch way doors 13 whichmay be of any desired type. On the forward wall 11 and'adjacenteachhatch way 12 is mounted a latch casing 14 secured to the wall by meansof suitable bolts passing through bores 15 in the casing. The casing 14has mountedtherein a pivotally mounted latch member 16, one end of whichextends through an aperture 17 in the wall and carries a universal jointmember 18. The opposite end 19 of the latch member 16 is provided withan upwardly extending hooked or shouldered por-' tion 20 and asidewardly extending lug 21 having a perforation "22 therethrough. 5 Acontact 23 extends through the perforation 22 and is insulated fromthelug by means of suitable insulating washers 24 disposed on theopposite sides of the lug 21. A cable connector 25 is secured to one endof the contact 23 and carries a flexible cable lead 26 which connectswith one wire 27 of a pair of contact leads 2728 which lead to a controlboard 29 through which the various other circuits of the elevator arecontrolled and which will be described later on. Vithin the casing 14and spaced from the latch member 16 is a boss 30 carrying a block ofinsulating material 31. The lower face of the insulating block 31carries a plate 32 of electricity contacting metal and is provided witha pair of integral-brackets 33' which are electrically connected bymeans of a cable connector 34 to the lead 28. A bell crank lever 35 isprovided with a curved contact portion 36 and is pivotally mounted at'37between the brackets 33. An arm 38 of the bell crank lever 35 extendsupwardly and is adapted to abut the end of the con tact plate 32 inorder to limit the downward movement of the contact portion 36 of thebell crank lever A compression spring 39 having its opposite endsengaged upon the lever 35 and'the plate 32 yieldingly retains thecontact portion 36 in its lowermost position.

Mounted on the door 13 is a complementary latchinember 40 whichco-operates with the shouldered portion 20 of the latch member 16 forlocking the door. The member 40 has mounted on it a block of insulatingmaterial 41 and carries about its outer edge asubstantially U-shapedsliding contact 42 which to break and complete the circuit in thecontact lead 27 as the latch is opened and closed. -From the foregoingitwill be noted that when the latch member 16 turns about its pivotalmounting and thus lowers the shouldered portion 20 that the door 13' maybe opened since the shouldered portion 20'l1as been dropped below'the'path of travel of the complementary latch member240 .on the door.:andthat in opening the liatch the Contact 23 will move away from thesliding contact'42, :and the circuit in the contact leads 27-28 will bebroken. By reference .to the diagram in 7 it will be noted. that .theleads 27 of the. various latches-14' positioned at successive floors ofa building are arranged in series and consequently-when a latchis openedat any floor that the circuit QT-+28 will be broken and consequentlyprecludes energizing of any of the circuits through the control, board29 with oneexception-to be latefexplained.

' The latch member 16' is actuated on its pivotal mounting ,b'y'meansofa connecting rod 43. carrying universaljoint members 44 at its oppositeends, the member 18 onthe latch member 46, and" the member '44 on theone; end er, the, rod .43.. Zbein'gpivotally connected for movement,from, all angles. Brackets 45 are secured to thewall :11by any suitablemeans such as bolts 46 and support and stub shaft :47 3 extendingthrough aligned bores in said brackets. A clevis 48 is rigidly secured,to the shaft 47,-by any suitable means such asa pin 49. Theuniversal-zjoint; member :44 Onthe jfree end of the, rod 43.ispivotallyamountedjupon the split. end 50 of the clevis. Ain actuatingarm.51 is, also rigidly secured Ito the shaft, 47v by any suitableimeans such gas a split collar and tightening] screw {)2 r and carriesat its fre'eenda roller ,,5 3 "From the foregoing it will be apparent,that {when the actuating -arm v 5.1 is moved: toward the wall that-fit;Will revolve the shaft 47 which in turn will raise the outerend 50 ofthe clevis 48, thus ra'ising'the connecting rod 43 for moving the latchmember 16 about its pivotal mounting and lowering, the shoulderedportion 20,;thereof to 'break contact between contacts 23 and j42 and topermit the latch n11ember40 on the door to be withdrawn from the casing14, It should be noted that one-of the complete rnechanisms heretoforedescribedfare mounted adjacent the hatch way door 1 2 at each floor andthat when the doors 13 are closed: that it will be impossible toagainopen them; u1'iti l the end of the lever 51 carrying the roller 53 hasbeen moved toward the wall suiiiciently .to raise the connecting rod 43to open the latch. It should be further noted that while the rod andactuating lever 51 are shown as being mounted ad acent one another inthe drawin s herewith that they may be placed in any relativepositionson the shaft or on either side of either of the brackets "45.It should be noted further that the universal joints make the deviceadaptable to mounting in practically any position without impairing itsutility. Mounted above the dome 54 of the elevator car 55 is a tank 56having a single phase stall motor 57, the rotor shaft 58 or which is:mounted upon suitable bearings 59 The shaft .58 eXtends through thecover 60 of the tank 56 and has mountedupon it apinion 61. The pinion 61is provided with teeth meshing with the teeth of a gear segment '62mounted upon an arm 63. The arm 63 is mounted upon a shaft 64 and iskeyed thereto. ,The shaft 64 extends through a suitable bearing. in abracket extension 65-upon the cover 60 and carries at its lower free endanfarm 66 keyed thereto. The outer end of the arm66 ca'rries a universaljoint 67 upon onem'ember 68 of which ismounted a cam actuating rod 69.A, bracket extends substantially parallel with the cam actuating rod 69and 'is mounted at its one end upon the tank sup port structure. Thebracket 70 carries at its other end a transverse memberl'lwhich has atits upper end: a pivotally mounted link 72 and a pivot-ally mounted bellcrank 73 at its opposite end, The free endofthe canractuatingrod 69 isconnected by means of a suitable pivotal mounting f('4 t o one end ofthe bell crank lever 73, A retiring cam 7 5 ispivotally mounted to thefreeend of the bell crank lever 73 and the pivotally mounted link 72. Asnrin '76 has its one off the cam 75 will engage the roller 58 and movethe actuating arm 51 toward the wall, releasing the latch in the mannerheretofore described so'that the door may be opened, and 'at thesametime breakingv the circuit 27 -528. If the elevator door 13 remainsclosed or is opened the circuit through the sliding contactmember 42remains-broken until the latch is again locked andtheele vator remainsin a safe condition for operation. A person onthe inside of the car 55torezrample may press one of the buttons 7 9 selecting a liner to whichhe desires .to ride. The pressing of one of the buttons "[9 willcomplete a circuit between the wire 80 and one of the wires 81 whichextend through theoontrol board 29 and by any approved control boardmechanism, complete a circuit in the wires 82-83 for actuating the stallmotor 57. The stall motor 57 is provided with an extra resistance-sothat the motor may be stalled or stopped by overloading as well as bydeenergizing the fields thereof. For this reason the control of the camis simplified to the extent that auxiliary switching means and remotecontrols therefor are eliminated. The stall motor 57 thus revolves thepinion 61 and actuates the gear segment 62 and stud shaft 64. The arm 66connected to the stud shaft 64 and moving therewith pushes the camactuating rod 69 forward against the resistance of the spring 76 andwithdraws the cam 75 from the roller 53 whereupon the rod 43 will dropby gravity and thus lock the door and at the same time complete a hoistmotor circuit. WVhen the arm 63 is moved sufficiently to withdraw thecam from any possible contact with the roller 53, it engages a suitablecushion spring 84 mounted upon a suitable support 85. The motor is thusstalled or stopped from turning although the circuit is unbroken and thearm 63 is thus held in position and the cam 75 is retained in a retiredposition. The tank 56 in which the motor 57 is mounted is filled withtransformer oil and the stall motor is constructed with suitableresistance to withstand the stalling. The motor being immersed intransformer oil, the heat generated by the stalling of the motor iscarried away by the oil thus keeping the motor from burning out. Themotor shaft58 also carries a pair of vanes or paddles 86 which areadapted to revolve therewith during the rotation of the motor. Vhen thecarhas reached the selected floor and the circuit is broken by virtue ofthe mechanism in the control board 29 the load is released from thestall motor 57 and thespring 76 again actuates the bell crank lever 73pushing the cam 75 forward to engage the roller 53 and at the same-timepushes the cam actuating rod 69 backward and revolves the shaft 64 whichin turn operates the segment 62, pinion 61 and motor shafti58. The vanesor paddles 86 moving with the shaft through the oil in the tank 56preclude rapid movement of the parts and the arm 63 is gradu ally movedagainst the opposite spring 84. Thus it will be apparent that when theelevator car 55 has arrived at the selected floor, the control board 29will automatically break the circuit embracing the hoistingmotor 184,and also the circuit 8283 embracing the stall motor 57 and will actuatethe elevator brakes 185. Control boards for automatic elevators beingunderstood by those versed in the art, it will not be necessary to setforth the particular mechanism of the control board herein, especiallysince invention herein does not lie in the control board per .variousother floors will be locked.

so. Furthermore, the control boardwould be varied to accommodate varyingnumber of floor stops for the elevator car. It should be alsounderstoodthat a similar set of control push buttons 79 are positioned in thecorridor of a building adjacent each hatch way door 13 and that this setof push buttons is connected through the control board in the samemanner as are those within theelevator car. Thisfeature is common toautomatic elevators.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

Assuming the elevator car 55 to be in. a position of rest at a givenfloor, with all of the hatch way doors 13 closed, it will be apparentthat the circuit 27-28 leading to the control board from the series oflatches 16 will be broken at said given floor because the elevatorlocking mechanism will beopen, namely the member 19 will be in a loweredposition clear of member 40. The push buttons 79 both within theelevator car and in the corridor adjacent each door being openthecircuit 8283 embracing the stall motor 57 and the circuit embracingthe hoisting motor 84 will be open. The-spring 76 exerting its forceupon the bell crank lever73 will hold the retiring cam 75 in a forwardor advanced position, thus holding the actuating arm 51 at a given floorin such position that its latch member 16 will be in a lowered orunlocked position. The retiring cam 75 being remote from the remainingactuating arms 51', it will be readily apparent that all other latchmechanisms at the Assuming thata person desired to-ride upon theelevator, finds the car in a position of rest at the floor upon which heis standing, he may then open the elevator door. since the latch isunlocked and enter the car. He will then press one of the buttons 79selecting the floor to whichhe desires to ride. If he has failed toclose the door'after him, the stall motor will withdraw the cam but thecircuit 27-28 controlling the circuit for hoisting motor. 184 willremain broken and since all other circuits in the control board 29 aredependent upon the .circuit 27 28, the elevator hoisting motor cannot beactuated. The same condition prevents another person at another floorfrom actuating the elevator while the door is open, Thus it will be seenthat until the latches are locked to bring the sliding contact member 42into contact with the members 23 and 36 that the hoist mot-or circuitscannot be closed through the push buttons 79. Assuming now that theperson who has entered the elevator car now closes the door 13 and thathe presses one of the buttons 79 for selecting the floor to which hedesires to ride. A circuit between the wire 80 and one of the wires 81will be "CODE- pleted and by virtue of the control board mechanismthe-circuit 82-13 connected to the stall motor will be energized. Thestall motor will then revolve, turning the pinion 61 and moving the gearsegment 62 which in turn will push the cam actuating rod 69 forward andcausing the bell crank lever 7 3 to Withdraw the cam from; theactuatingarm 51, the motor continuing to turn until it engages the one of thebuffer springs 84: on the block 85. The latch mechanism at a given floorwill then become locked against further opening. The operation justdescribed requires but a few seconds of time and after the motor 57 hasbeen stalled or blocked the hoisting motor "1845 will become energized,and will raise or lower the'car to the floor selected,-aftei-' which themechanism in the control board 29 will break the circuits tothe hoistingmotor ISta-nd thestall motor 57 and a'ctuatethe'elevator brake 185. Thecircuit 82'83 to the stall motor being broken, the spring 76 is: nowfree to exert its in'fiuence u'pcm'the bellfcra'nk lever 73 and againpu'sh" the retiring cam forward to "engage the actuating arm 51-at theselected floor which rejleases the latch mechanism at suclrselectedfloor and opens circuit 27*28. The person 'may 'thenopen the door 13 toleave the'el'evator. As -soon as-he opens: the door 13 the circuit-27'28 cannot be again completed so that the elevator may not be startedfrom any other floor untilthe person'using it has again close'dthedoor.- It should-be noted that byvirtue of the retiring'cam mechanismthat itwill be impossi b le forany unauthorized person to open the doorat algiven floor as thecar passes such floor, since 'theretiring cam 7 5is "entirely removed from any of the actuating arms '51 while theelevatoris in motion. It will also be noted that if a person using theeleva tor desires to retain the use-of the elevator "for a short, timethat he "need "only leave the hatch way door 13 open so "that it Will beimpossible for any one to actuate 'tlieelevator door from any'oth'erfloor. The stall motor being-immersed in a tank of oil, the mechanismwill be practically noiseless and the vanes or paddles 86 travelingthrough the oil will retard violent actuation of the cam mechanism underthe influenc'eofthe spring 76 when the stall motor circuit is broken sothat the geaii' segment arm "63 will move gently against the butterspring 84.

vl' hat I claim is:

1. In a safety locking-apparatus tor automatio'elevators the combinationwith an elevator car mounted within an elevator shaft and-a hatch waydoor in the shaft, of a latch casingmounted adjacentthe door,complementary latch members carried by the door and easing,complementary electricalcontact members associated with the latchmembers for breaking a circuit when the latch is opened, a latchactuating mechanism mounted in the shaft and connected wlth one of thelatch members, an actuating arm associated 'With the latch actuatingmechanismand extending into the elevator cam said circuits to withdrawthe cam thereby permitting the complementary contacts on the latchmembers to contact one with the other.

2. In a retiring cam for electric elevators the combination with a camsupport, of a cam, a bell crank lever-pivotally'mounted upon thesupport, a linkpivotally mounted on the support, pivotal connections onone arm of the bell 'cranklever and-'"on-the 'iiree end of the link formountingthe' cam, a spring connected with theot'herarm of the bell cranklever for normally projecting the cam to an extendedFpo-sitiom'acamactuating rod connected tothe bell crank lever, an electrical stallmotor mounted adjacent the cam support, and means driven by the stallmotor for moving the-cam actuating rod whereby the camis withdrawn fromits projected position against the resistance of thespring.

In a retiringcam for-electric elevators the combination with a camsupport, of a cam, abell cr-a'n-k lever pivotally mounted upon thesupport, a link pivotally mounted on the support, pivotal connections onone armcf the bell crank lever,*and on the 'free end of "the linkfor-mounting the cam, a spring connected with the-otherarm of the bellcrank'lever for normally projecting the cam to an'extended position,a-cam actuating rod connected to *the bellcrank lever, an electricalstall motor mounted adjacent the cam supportfmeans driven by the stallmotor for moving the cam actuating rod whereby the cam is withdrawn fromits projected position against the resistance of the spring, -meansforenergizing the motor, and means for retarding the action of thespring when the motor is deenergized.

4:. 'In a're'tiring cam for electrioelevator the combination With a camsupport, of a cam, a bell crank lever pivot-ally mounted upon "thesupport, a link pivota'lly"mounted on the support, pivotal connectionson one arm of the bell crank lever and on th'e'free end of the link formounting the cam, a spring connected with the other arm of the bellcrank lever for normally projecting the cam to an extended. positionyacam actuating rod connected to the bell crank lever, an electrical stallmotor mounted adjacent the cam support, means driven by the stall motorfor moving the cam actuating rod whereby the cam is withdrawn from itsprojected position against the resistance of the spring, means forenergizing the motor, and means comprising paddles operating in a tankof oil for retarding the action of the spring when the motor isdeenergized.

5. In an operating mechanism for retiring cams the combination with areciprocating cam, spring means for normally projecting said cam, a tankfor containing oil, an electric stall motor mounted within the tank, anextended rotor shaft for the stall motor and projecting above the tank,paddles mounted on the rotor shaft for rotating in oil contained in thetank, a pinion on the end of the rotor shaft, an arm mounted foroscillation above the tank, a gear segment carried by one end of the armand meshing with the: pinion on the rotor shaft, and means connectingthe arm and cam for retiring the cam against the resistance of thespring meanswhen the stall motor is energized.

6. In an operating mechanism for retiring cams the combination with areciprocating cam, spring means for normally projecting said cam, a tankfor containing oil, an electric stall motor mounted within the tank, anextended rotor shaft for the stall motor and projecting above the tank,paddles mounted on the rotor shaft for rotating in oil contained in thetank, a pinion on the end of the rotor shaft, an arm mounted foroscillation above the tank, a gear segment carried by one end of the armand meshing with the pinion on the rotor shaft, means connecting the armand cam for retiring the cam against the resistance of the spring meanswhen the stall motor is energized, and buffer springs for stopping thearm at its opposite limits of oscillation.

7. In an operating mechanism for retiring cams the combination of areciprocating cam, yielding means for normally projecting the cam, anoscillating arm, means connecting the arm and cam for retiring the camagainst the resistance of the yielding means, spring buffers forlimiting the movement of the oscillating arm, an electric motor, apinion driven by the motor, a gear segment carried by the arm andmeshing with the pinion whereby the arm is moved into abutment with oneof the spring buffers for holding the cam in a retracted position whilethe motor is energized.

8. In a safety latch for electrical elevators the combination with acasing for mounting upon a wall of an elevator shaft,

a pivotally mounted latch member carried by the casing, a complementarylatch memher adapted to be rigidly mounted upon a door for reciprocationinto and out of the casing, a yielding contact member mounted in thecasing in spaced relation with the pivotally mounted latch member, anelectrical contact carried by said latch member, and a U-shapedelectrical contact member carried by the complementary latch member andinsulated therefrom whereby an electrical circuit embracing the yieldingcontact and the contact on the pivotally mounted latch member may becompleted when the complementary latch member is projected into thecasing.

9. In a safety latch for electrical elevators the combination with acasing for mounting upon a wall of an elevator shaft, a pivotallymounted latch member carried by the casing, a complementary latch memberadapted to be rigidly mounted upon a door for reciprocation into and outof the casing, a yielding contact member mounted in the casing in spacedrelation with the pivotally mounted latch member, an electrical contactcarried by said latch member, a U-shaped electrical contact membercarried by the complementary latch member and insulated therefromwhereby an electrical circuit embracing the yielding contact and thecontact on the pivotally mounted latch member may be completed when thecomplementary latch member is projected into the casing, andmechanically operated means for moving the pivotally mounted latchmember to a position such that the complementary latch member projectedinto the casing without engaging the pivotally mounted member and thecircuit will re-' main broken.

10. The combination with an electrically operated automaticallycontrolled elevator, a hatch way wall and door for controllingentranceto an elevator car, of co-operating means carried by the walland door for normally locking the door, contact members carried by thelocking means and adapted to be separated when the door is unlatched,electrical circuits associated with the elevator and adapted to bebroken when the hatch way door is unlocked, actuating means carried bythe elevator car for releasing the door locking means when the car is ina position of rest adjacent the hatch way door, and an electrical stallmotor carried by the car and adapted to be energized before the carmoving circuits are closed and to withdraw the actuating means wherebythe car moving circuits may be completed, said stall motor being adaptedto remain energized and overloaded by the actuating means afterwithdrawal.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 24th dayof December, 1924.

HAROLD v. MCCORMICK.

